Some time ago Greek band Rotting Christ was thinking about whether to keep that name, as the band had meanwhile gotten far way from their Black Metal roots. Well, it is a good thing that they never pulled that one through, as the label claims that with this ‘Genesis’ (the Greek word of which we all know the meaning) the band has returned to these roots.
Now labels claim a lot more, and many of it is often bullshit, and so I closely listened to this album (as it should be!) to make up my own mind. ‘Genesis’ has become a beautiful, delightful Dark Metal album, yet it is certainly no Black Metal, although many titles may make you suspecting otherwise. So not a return to their roots concerning sound, yet what a great album it is!
The CD opens a bit Meshuggah-like (thrashy staccato guitar riffs that go against the grain), and suchlike guitar arrangements will be found more often on this album. Without sounding a bit like Susperia, you can describe this ‘Genesis’ as a fine piece of extreme metal, in which the use of keyboards and choir voices (just sounds, no lyrics) gives the music a great dark and menacing sound. The voice is aggressive and dark, yet without grunts and screams, floating on songs! built from fat drumming work and a massive wall of guitars. This results in 10 tracks that fire from your boxes in a more than convincing way!
Especially people using a headphone will learn to appreciate this album (sometimes you can even hear a bouzouki-like sound) and its solid production/sound. This album is not for pure Black Metal fanatics or people who insist on blast beats, yet this is definitely a band with an own sound which must be able to perform this live on stage as well. If there is an album to be described as Dark Metal, it is this one in my opinion; and the good thing is, it is an album which can/will grow when you listen to it more often. You can’t dance the sirtaki on this music from Greece, yet headbanging must work! Yamas!
